conformity to social roles : zimbardo's research

Question 1

what does Zimbardo’s study mainly look at ?

Answer 1

• why one conforms to the expectations that people have of us

Question 2

what are social roles ? (1 mark)

Answer 2

• the ‘parts’ people play as members of various social groups
  (everyday examples) - parent , child , student , passenger and so on
• these are accompanied by expectations we and others have of what is appropriate behaviour in each role,
  e.g. caring, obedient and industrious

Question 3

what are social roles accompanied by ?

Answer 3

• the expectations people have of how individuals in these roles should behave

Question 4

what does conforming to social role mean ?

Answer 4

• when an individual adopts a particular behaviour and belief , while in a particular social situation

Question 5

what is an example of social role ?

Answer 5

• whilst at school a teacher adopts the behaviour and beliefs of a ‘teacher’ which many be very different to the behaviour and beliefs they adopt with their friends at the weekend

Question 6

what does the social role above represent in terms of conformity ?

Answer 6

• identification
  –> where a person changes their public behaviour and private beliefs but only while they are in a particular social role

Question 7

what are people socialised to learn ?

Answer 7

• how to behave in certain situations through observing the social roles of others and conforming to this behaviour

Question 8

what will the teacher do in the end ?

Answer 8

• quickly adopt the behaviours and beliefs of other teachers in their school as they conform to this social role

Question 9

what questions did the SPE ask ?

Answer 9

• whether guards are naturally brutal people or does the situation create the behaviour

Question 10

what led to Zimabrdo wanting to do the (SPE) ?

Answer 10

• attica prison riot (1971)

Question 11

when and what did Zimbardo conduct his study ?

Answer 11

• in 1973 –> Stanford Prison Experiment

Question 12

what was the aim of his study ?

Answer 12

• to examine whether people would conform to the social roles of a prison guard or prisoner when placed in a mock prison environment

Question 13

what did Zimbardo also examine ?

Answer 13

• whether the behaviour displayed in prisons was due to internal dispositional factors ( the people themselves) OR external dispositional factors ( the environment and conditions of the prison)

Question 14

what type of experiment did Zimbardo conduct ?

Answer 14

• overt participant observation

Question 15

what was the method of the SPE ?

Answer 15

• zimbardo’s sample consisted of 21 male university students –> volunteered in response to a newsletter advert
• participants were selected from 75 participants on the basis of their physical and mental stability and where each paid $15 a day to take part
• each participant was randomly assigned to one of the 2 social roles
  –> PRISONER OR GUARD
• Z wanted to make the experience as realistic as possible
  –> turning the basement of STANFORD UNI into a MOCK PRISON , in which he was the warden
• furthermore the ‘prisoners’ were arrested by REAL LOCAL POLICE and fingerprinted + stripped and given a numbered smocken to wear with chains placed around their ankles
• the guards were given uniforms, dark reflective sunglasses,handcuffs,and truncheon
  –> guards were instructed to run the prison without using PHYSICAL VIOLENCE
  ( deindividuation)
• the experiment was set to run for 2 weeks
• zimbardo acted as a ‘warden’

Question 16

what does deindividuation mean ?

Answer 16

-

Question 17

what were the results of the SPE ?

Answer 17

• both prisoners and guards quickly identified their social roles
• within days, prisoners rebelled –> quickly crushed by guards as –> grew increasingly abusive towards the prisoners
• the guards dehumanised the prisoners , waking them during the night and forcing them to clean toilets with their bare hands
  –> prisoners became increasingly submissive , identifying further with the subordinate role
• 5 of the prisoners were released early from the experiment early,because of adverse reactions to the physical and mental torment , e.g crying and extreme anxiety
  –> experiment was meant to run for 2 weeks , it was terminated after 6 days when fellow postgraduate student convinced Z that conditions in experiment was inhumane

Question 18

what was the conclusion of the (SPE) ?

Answer 18

• social roles appear to have a strong influence on people’s behaviours
  –> volunteers came to perform specific functions found themselves conforming to behaviour expected in a prison,not a lab study

Question 19

what does the conclusion mean ?

Answer 19

• people quickly conform to social roles –> even when the roles goes against their moral principles

Question 20

what did Zimbardo further conclude ?

Answer 20

• that situational factors were largely responsible for the behaviour found , as none of the participants had ever demonstrated these behaviours previously